A Poem of Hidden Selves and Concealed Truths
Reflections Beneath the Glass
I wear a mask like flawless glass
smooth and clear reflecting the world
without revealing the tremor
behind my eyes
In the shadowed corners
a shadow lingers
simply unseen
a pulse that refuses to beat
in the daylight of my speech
I carry a chest of masks
each clasped with care
each polished for a particular stage
the cheerful neighbor
the confident friend
the untroubled stranger
on the train
Sometimes
I catch a glimpse of the one beneath
the one who holds a low stubborn song
no one is meant to hear
It is in the bathroom mirror
in the rain covered window at midnight
in the moment before I answer
fine when the world asks
I have learned the art of disguise
like breathing
It shields, it signals, it teases
sometimes revealing more than I intend
a trembling hand
a flicker of doubt
a laugh that forbids to reach the lips
And yet the hidden self is always more than sorrow
It holds a garden no one walks through
a laugh that lingers between the walls of memory
a courage that waits patiently
for a moment the world cannot see
There is a tension here
between the surface and the depth
between the performed and the remembered
It is deception turned survival
It is mystery
It is the slow art of wearing
more than one mask at a time
Sometimes I let the masks fall
like leaves in autumn
and the wind sees everything
I thought only shadows knew
And in that sudden exposure
I am whole
a self-multiplied mirrored
and yet singular
a truth beneath the shine
About the Creator
Tim Carmichael
Tim is an Appalachian poet and cookbook author. He writes about rural life, family, and the places he grew up around. His poetry and essays have appeared in Bloodroot and Coal Dust, his latest book.
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Comments (3)
I really love the last five lines, Tim. You have such a powerful way with words and the imagery through the whole poem.
Well-wrought, Tim! Sorrow is but another mask. When the mirrors are broken, there before us lies the only true image, in the eternal now.
A powerful poem! I really liked the lines "simply unseen a pulse that refuses to beat"